What is an eagle in golf?

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An "eagle" in the sport of golf refers to an individual score of two strokes under par on any respective hole. Holes are typically given par numbers like 3, 4 or 5, in reference to how many strokes in which an expert golfer is expected to complete the hole.

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While rare, eagles most commonly occur on par-5 holes, indicated by a score of 3, with the golfer hitting the green in two shots and reaching the hole with a single putt.

Bogey and double bogey represent individual scores of one and two strokes over par, while a birdie is one shot under par.

Golf's prestigious "hole-in-one" is a tee shot that lands inside the cup. Because of the difficulty and distance, such shots are extremely rare outside of par-3 holes. On the PGA Tour featuring the world's best golfers, a hole-in-one on a par-4 hole has happened just once as of 2014. Steve Magee accomplished the feat on the 332-yard 17th hole at the 2001 Phoenix Open.

A golfer's final score after completing a 9- or 18-hole game is expressed by the number of shots over or under par. For example, a golfer finishing an 18-hole, par-72 course with a tally of 77 ultimately shot 5 over par, which appears on the leaderboard as +5.